1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compressed gas powered guns or projectile launching apparatuses that propel projectiles, and more specifically to an improved method of loading and readying for expulsion a gelatinous filled capsule.
2. Description of Prior Art
Numerous types of compressed gas powered guns have been developed for use in areas such as marking stock animals, non-lethal crowd control, and the tactical sport of paintball. Marking guns typically use compressed gas to fire a gelatinous capsule containing a marking material which breaks on impact with a target.
Compressed gas guns have attained widespread use in the recreational sport of paintball, an activity in which teams compete against each other. When a player is marked by the opposing team with a gelatinous capsule or pellet, commonly called a paintball, the player is eliminated from the game.
These guns, commonly called paintball markers, generally use a compressed gas cartridge or cylinder as the power source. A paintball pellet, the gelatinous capsule, is propelled from the marker. The paintballs, break on impact with the target, dispersing the material to mark the target.
In general, the prior art compressed gas guns, such as those used for paintball, include a typical firearm-type loading mechanism called a bolt to push the projectile into a barrel before firing and a firing mechanism involving a spring loaded, large mass, hammer used to strike an exhaust valve. There are several distinct disadvantages to these designs:
a.) the bolt configuration is not conductive to loading the paintball pellets because the geometry of a bolt and a falling sphere are conductive to trapping a projectile as the bolt moves forward;
b.) the bolt is predisposed to jamming when capsules are broken while entering the firing chamber;
c.) the bolt and hammer both require extensive maintenance in the form of lubrication and cleaning;
d.) the bolt and hammer have a great amount of reciprocating mass, the momentum of which inhibits accuracy; and
e.) they do not use compressed gas efficiently.
The disadvantages of the prior art are described in more detail in the following paragraphs:
a.) In standard bolt design, as a projectile is readied to be loaded, a front view looks like a figure eight with the bottom circle being the firing chamber and the top circle being the projectile to be loaded. As the projectile begins to load, the point of overlap of the ball and the bolt increases. The bolt has no natural lifting or lowering geometry and therefore, cuts, chops, or squashes the projectile.
b.) The bolt-type mechanism""s geometry and movement break the gelatinous capsules. Ideally, a projectile will fall completely into an area known as a breech, the area the ball rests in before being forced into the barrel, by the bolt moving forward. One common problem occurs when the bolt moves forward before the pellet is entirely in the breech, and the bolt crushes the paintball. Once the pellet is crushed, the shell and the gelatinous fill are squirted up into the feed conduit, possibly destroying other pellets, into the breech of the gun, and on the bolt itself, possibly impairing function of the gun. The bolt-type mechanism can also lead to jamming the gun. In some cases, the shell of the broken paintball can become trapped between the bolt and the breech wall and prevent the movement of the bolt, effectively preventing the gun from functioning until it is dismantled and cleaned. Original compressed gas guns had the same problem; however, because they used a hand pump method to move the bolt, reset the hammer, and load pellets. Because it happened more slowly, the problem was not as acute. However, the development of semi-automatic firing increased the rate of fire and augmented the problem of damaging pellets as they load.
c.) Typical compressed air guns which use bolts, shuttles, or breech blocksxe2x80x94all of which usually have large mass and move far and fastxe2x80x94require constant maintenance to ensure the bolt and breech are free of debris that may inhibit their movement as well as requiring extensive lubrication to ensure proper operation.
d.) The large-mass bolt must be moved back and forth to allow feeding of the next projectile. This action creates a source of movement in the gun. A second source of movement in the gun occurs as the large-mass hammer is slammed against the valve to create the exhaust cycle. These motions create a jerk before and during the firing cycle that greatly impairs the accuracy.
e.) Bolt mechanism designs use a small amount of gas to reset the bolt and/or hammer or to cycle a secondary valve to reset the bolt and hammer. That gas is exhausted externally and is not used to propel the projectile.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved pneumatic gun or launching apparatus design which eliminates the bolt and hammer, thus eliminating pellet breakage and jams caused by breakage, reducing part ware, and maintenance while improving accuracy.
Prior art has failed to solve this problem because no design to date has effectively eliminated heavy moving parts and effectively employed an alternate means to load the projectiles and activate the exhaust cycle.
In addition, prior art compressed gas guns, such as those used for paintball, include a standard regulator which has several disadvantages:
a.) They employ face seals which commonly trap debris;
b.) The sealing point of the regulator is inconsistent. Because the face of the sealing surface compresses the seal, over time, the point at which the regulator is set changes.
c.) The output is a diaphragm which has no relief mechanism for venting over pressure;
d.) If the regulator has a vent in the system, it requires a separate adjustment which is usually independent of the regulator adjustment.
The present invention overcomes the problems of prior loading apparatus gun designs by providing an improved loading system that uses a moveable partition to separate a projectile in the firing chamber from the next projectile in the feed conduit and an improved single adjustment, opposed-piston, venting regulator. In accordance with one embodiment, the pneumatic launching apparatus includes a compressed gas source, a feed conduit, a firing chamber, a movable partition, an activation means for the partition, an opposed-piston regulator, and a firing means.
In this improved design, the moveable partition, which in the preferred embodiment is a small, generally flat plate with low mass, requires only a light actuating force. This actuating force or movement means can be pneumatic, magnetic, mechanical, or electronic. The actuating force is far less than that required to damage a projectile, such as a gelatinous-filled capsule used as a paintball. This design eliminates mechanical damage to projectiles as they load into the launching device and, in turn, eliminates jams related to broken projectile debris.
In addition, using low-mass parts that are actuated with low force allows increased accuracy due to greater stability while allowing for lower maintenance.
The design is efficient because all of the gas supplied into the system is used to propel the projectile. In addition, consistency of the launching apparatus is improved by using a single adjustment, opposed-piston regulator that vents overpressure and acts as a failsafe if an input seal fails.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent upon reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention and upon reference to the accompanying drawings.